As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
One of the most frustrating aspects of the recent civil unrest in America for me, has been trying to figure out what people mean by what they say. Am I at fault for failing to understand the plain meaning of simple words, or are the words themselves intended to obscure the real intentions of the speaker?
I am beginning to suspect it’s the latter. It seems that words are being used in a manner intended to hide, not reveal what the speaker actually means.
My thoughts below predate COVID-19, masks, hydroxychloroquine, or churches defying public health emergency orders. Last fall, different controversies were exposing problems in how believers evaluate conflicting claims and decide what to believe.
But those problems are still with us, and the current raft of controversies is exposing them even more painfully.
“ ‘Follower of Jesus.’ A follower of Jesus myself, I normally like to see those words on someone’s Twitter profile. Lately, however, I’m reluctant to scroll down for fear that this same follower has cussed out a politician on the social media platform or tweeted nasty things at a person they disagree with.” - Dan Darling
“ ‘Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone’ (Titus 3:1–2). These marks demonstrate true faith and integrity among Christians.” - Wyatt Graham
“While online shaming may seem like a major preoccupation for the public if you spend a lot of time on Twitter, only 40% of voters say they have participated in cancel culture and only one in 10 say they participate ‘often.’” - Politico
“Join a political movement if you like, but don’t confuse it with an intellectual movement. To the extent that you wish to pursue intellectual authenticity in public, you will need to give up on direct political influence.” - Daniel Burns
“The Latin term ad hominem literally means ‘to the man.’ … ‘attacking the person of a source rather than his or her qualifications or reliability, or the actual argument he or she makes.’” - Ref21
“In a recent article, Dennis Prager lists four practices that are destroying America from the inside. One of those he outlines is demonization, where an entire class or group of people is labeled as inherently evil. Heather Mac Donald’s WSJ editorial challenged this very thing.” - CPost
“What we often end up doing is speaking before listening, and driving wedges between people who should live in love and unity. I read one writer recently on Facebook who said that spiritual leaders have a responsibility to use social media as a channel for influence, but there are some major obstacles ….
“Arguments tend to be focused on facts and logic…. A person presents arguments in the hope that someone else will have their understanding or thinking altered as they consider the arguments…. Narratives, on the other hand, tend to be focused on personal stories and experiences. … Increasingly, the discourse in our culture is bereft of arguments but filled with competing narratives.” - Ben Edwards
Discussion